The makers of a controversial documentary about the supposed link between the MMR vaccine and autism have hit back at criticism from the scientific community after the film was pulled from Robert De Niro’s Tribeca film festival.

The Oscar-winning actor issued a statement on Saturday announcing that Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe would no longer be shown at the New York event following outcry from doctors and researchers. Now, director Andrew Wakefield and producer Del Bigtree have fired back in a joint statement, claiming the move amounts to a corporate conspiracy.

“It is our understanding that persons from an organisation affiliated with the festival have made unspecified allegations against the film – claims that we were given no opportunity to challenge or redress,” the statement reads. “We were denied due process. We have just witnessed yet another example of the power of corporate interests censoring free speech, art, and truth.”

The film-makers continued: “Tribeca’s action will not succeed in denying the world access to the truth behind the film Vaxxed.”

The statement was released as Variety reported the documentary is to be “widely released” in US cities by distributor Cinema Libre. Chairman Philippe Diaz said the company had chosen to support the film to “correct a major issue, which is the suppression of medical data by a governmental agency that may very well be contributing to a significant health crisis”.

Robert De Niro pulls anti-vaccination film from Tribeca film festival

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Wakefield is a disgraced British former doctor who published a study in 1998 that claimed links between a vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and autism. Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe aims to prove his discredited theory, in part by claiming new evidence that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suppressed an important study about the supposed links.

Vaxxed’s inclusion in this year’s initial Tribeca lineup prompted a wave of criticism from doctors, researchers and activists against the science behind the film, spearheaded by documentary film-maker Penny Lane, whose film NUTS!, screened at this year’s Sundance film festival.

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De Niro initially chose to defend his decision to program the documentary, revealing the issue was “very personal to me and my family” as the father of an autistic child. After coming under severe criticism, the actor issued a second statement announcing the film would be removed altogether. “We do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for,” he said.

Jezebel reports Vaxx has already screened on a recent cruise for conspiracy theorists that journalists were not allowed to attend. General audiences in New York will have a chance to view the film starting on Friday at arthouse cinema, the Angelika Film Center. A Friday and Saturday screening will be followed by Q&As with Wakefield.

Meanwhile, a petition calling for Tribeca to bring back the film has been signed by nearly 30,000 people since De Niro cancelled its screening.